Martin Brundle
|birthplace = King's Lynn, Norfolk, UK |death date = |placeofdeath = |nationality = |status = Retired (currently commentating for Sky Sports F1) |firstrace = 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix |lastrace = 1996 Japanese Grand Prix}} Martin Brundle is a retired Formula One racing driver who participated in F1 from until . During his career, Brundle raced for , , , , , , and the teams. Brundle is also a highly respected and well known commentator for British television, in which he worked with ITV-F1 from until , BBC Sport F1 from until , and is currently employed by Sky Sports F1 since . In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, at the final lap of the race, when Lewis Hamilton is about to pass Timo Glock on the final lap to win the 2008 Drivers' Championship, Brundle said "Is that Glock? Is that Glock going slowly?" Brundle currently sits at third place of most experienced drivers to never win in F1. Formula One Career 1984-1986: Tyrrell 1984 After Brundle's tight battle with Ayrton Senna in British Formula 3, in which Brundle had narrowly loss the title in the last race to the Brazilian driver, both Senna and Brundle had gained the attention of the Formula One teams for the 1984 Formula One Season. Both Brundle and Senna as well as another up and coming talent Stefan Bellof were invited by the team to test their F1 car at the end of the season at the Silverstone Circuit. All three driver's impressed and were offered drives for the following season. Both Brundle and Bellof would join the team, a relatively strong mid-field team whilst Senna would join , a similarly pased mid-field team. The Brazilian Grand Prix marked the first race of the season, Brundle qualified in 15th position three places ahead of teammate Bellof. It was not a great start to the season with both Tyrrell's stuck at the back of the grid, however Brundle's fortunes would notably improve during the race. Poor reliability marked the start of the season and saw 18 of the 26 cars retire, including Brundle's teammate Bellof. Brundle however managed to continue until the chequered flag, stealing fifth place on the last lap from Patrick Tambay's which ran out of fuel on the last lap. Brundle was thus able to score some unexpected points on his Formula One debut. The Tyrrell's appeared to be even less competitive in qualifying at the next round in South African than they had been in Brazil. Brundle started in 25th, the second last position on the grid. Teammate Bellof faired little better and was only one position ahead of Brundle. Whilst most of the field was hampered by poor reliability once again, Brundle was able to continue to the end of the race once again, albeit significantly off the pace finishing in 11th and last place. The next race in Belgium saw little improvement for the Tyrrell team. Bellof once again had only just barely pipped Brundle to a higher grid position, starting in 21st with Brundle right behind in 22nd. Brundle had his first Formula One retirement in Spa, breaking down on lap 51. Teammate Bellof went on to score his first points in F1, finishing 5th in the race, now equalling Brundle in the championship. The next race in San Marino saw the Tyrrell's line-up 21st and 22nd once again, Bellof beating Brundle once again. The Tyrrell's once again proved uncompetitive, with Brundle retiring with only 5 laps to go, and Bellof finishing in a disgruntled 11th position. At the French Grand Prix, Brundle qualified in 23rd, three places behind his German teammate. The Tyrrell's still were unable to find any competitive race pace either with Brundle finishing the race three laps off the winner Niki Lauda as teammate Bellof retired from the race. The Monaco Grand Prix was next in on the calendar. Whilst in qualifying, Brundle had an enormous accident in which he managed to roll the car whilst hitting the barriers at Tabac corner. Brundle exited his Tyrrell only semi-conscious and when he went back to the pits to enter the spare car, Brundle had forgotten what race track he was at. Team Manager Ken Tyrrell pulled Brundle out of the session after asking over the radio whether he should turn left or right upon exiting the garage. Despite later being given the all clear by Dr Sid Watkins, the track race doctor, Brundle did not reenter the session and therefore did not qualify for the race. It was a missed opportunity for Brundle, as teammate Bellof garnered his first podium finishing in third place during the wet conditions. After teammate Bellof's recent success, Brundle was determined for him not to establish command over the team and outqualified him to 21st place in the Canadian Grand Prix. Brundle's Tyrrell once again proved to be reliable yet without any speed finishing in a distance ninth position, despite being engaged in a tense duel with F3 rival Ayrton Senna and the of Manfred Winkelhock. The Detroit Grand Prix would be a significant moment for Brundle and the Tyrrell team during the 1984 season. In qualifying, it was evident the Tyrrell's were much more competitive, Brundle putting in an excellent performance to qualify 11th, the team's highest grid position so far in the season. Teammate Bellof was only a few places down in 16th. The first start was aborted after an accident at the first corner. Upon the restart, both Tyrrell cars were immediately competitive, getting the jump on all of their nearby rivals. By lap 17 Brundle and Bellof were running a highly competitive 5th and 6th in the race. The two Tyrrell cars continued to lap faster than their rivals. Bellof, however, would ruin his race by crashing into the barriers and retiring. Tyrrell's hopes lay solely in the hands of Brundle. After the retirements of Derek Warwick's and Keke Rosberg's , Brundle found himself in third place. Only the of Nelson Piquet and the of Elio de Angelis remained ahead of him. De Angelis began suffering gearbox issues, and on lap 56, Brundle overtook the Lotus driver. Spurred on by his success Brundle began to chase down race leader and Piquet and by the last lap was right on the Brabham driver's tail, yet ran out of time to overtake Piquet for the win. Nonetheless, it was an amazing performance by the young British driver, who nearly won the race in underperforming machinery. However, only shortly after the podium ceremony, the stewards began investigating the Tyrrell's for a technical infringement. There was found to be impurities in the water injection in the Tyrrell cars, with evidence to suggest these water levels were topped up in a pit-stop and thus being classified as refuelling which had been banned for the 1984 season, the Tyrrell team were disqualified from the championship. Both Brundle and Bellof's amazing results were therefore erased from the scoreboard much to the disappointment of many within F1, not least the Tyrrell team. Despite the disqualification from the championship, Tyrrell vowed to continue on in the championship despite being aware they would not gain any points for the remainder of the season. The season was about to get even worse for Brundle and Tyrrell as during qualifying for the Dallas Grand Prix, Brundle had another huge accident during qualifying. Brundle slammed into the concrete barrier before bouncing off and slamming into the barrier once again. Brundle broke both his ankles and feet, the severity of his injuries would keep him out for the rest of the season. Despite returning to F1 in 1985, the accident in Dallas continues to plague Brundle with pain to the current day. Brundle was replaced in the team by Stefan Johansson for the remainder of the season, however the Tyrrell team pulled out of the season early after round 13, feeling it was pointless to continue in a championship they would continue to be disqualified in for the remainder of the season. Despite the lows of 1984, both Brundle and Bellof were recognised and respected in the paddock as stars of the future, pushing the limits of their uncompetitive machinery both of whom were realised as a formidable force within Formula One. 1985 Formula One Statistical Overview Formula One Record * In , Brundle's team, , were disqualified and banned from entering the remaining races that were left on the calendar, due to a technical infringement discovered at the race in Detroit. Brundle had scored 8 points until that point. Non-Racing Formula One Career Career Statistics Career Results | | | | | | | | ||||||||0|NC}} |9th|10th|12th| | |7th|10th| |7th|8th|13th| |7th| |0|NC}} | |8th| | |9th| |10th| | | | |10th| |11th| |8|11th}} | | |7th| | | | | | | | |11th| | | |2|18th}} | | |9th| | | | |8th|12th| | |8th| | | |4|20th}} | | | | |11th| |9th|13th|12th|10th| | |2|15th}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |38|6th}} | | | | | | | |14th|8th| |7th| | |9th| |13|7th}} | |8th| |11th| | | | | | | | | | | |16|7th}} |10th| | || | | |8th|7th||| |7|13th}} |12th| | | | | | |8th| |10th| | | |9th| |8|11th}} Notes Category:Commentators Category:1984 Début Drivers Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:British Drivers Category:Tyrrell Drivers Category:Zakspeed Drivers Category:Williams Drivers Category:Brabham Drivers Category:Benetton Drivers Category:Ligier Drivers Category:McLaren Drivers Category:Jordan Drivers Category:GPDA Directors Category:Martin Brundle